The Thomas In All Of Us

THE THOMAS IN ALL OF US

John 20:24-29

My brother and sisters as we examine these first sayings after the resurrection, I discovered that there is a little Thomas in all of us. Especially when someone shares what you had not experienced. We act as if we are from Missouri, you should know what I’m talking about, the claim to be from the show me state. We say that seeing is believing and I believe that is why so many people do not seek the Lord because of their lack of faith in His resurrection. But there is a little Thomas in all of us. Let me shake your memory; many of us although we’ve been switched before, didn’t follow the instructions of our parents because of two reasons (1) because we thought we wouldn’t get caught, and (2) because we thought that although the threat of a whipping was ever present, our parents might forget, but we all know that they never promised us a whipping , they did it.

I’m reminded of a doubting experience I had, anytime you think you can do something and get away with it you are having a doubting moment. Junebug and I were in Uncle Bubba’ yard catching chickens for Aunt Pearl to prepare, then we watched her as she would ring the chickens necks. So a couple of days later one of us got the idea to try this technique call ringing only to discover that we did not master the technique. And when we heard Aunt Pearl coming out of the house to go to the clothes line, we ran off not having time to get rid of the evidence, and she found three chickens with broken necks still flopping around the yard. Now we lived in a little community called Sunny-Side in Statesville, N.C. and you could hear your name being called from any point in the community and we had gotten as far as Mama Roccie’s house when we heard Aunt Pearl calling our names. Mama Roccie heard the call and sent me to Aunt Pearl for the skinning of my life. But for the record, I was not the only one that got a whipping that day. You see we really doubted that we would get caught because Uncle Bubba would have blamed one of the dogs, but Aunt Pearl knew it wasn’t the dogs it was those devilish boys.

Last week we saw in the text how Jesus had appeared to his disciple, all were there with the exception of Judas and Thomas. Judas by virtue of his death, and the text does not say where Thomas was. But in that lesson Jesus left them with something they needed for the mission that stood before them. He left them peace, purpose, and power for the journey ahead of them.

This week we will see Thomas now in the presence of the disciple hearing the wonderful event that just happened. Although he was not there this did not stop them from sharing what they saw. Now we should not ever think that Thomas doubted the words of Jesus when He told them that He would destroy the temple and in three day He would raise it again, that is not where he doubted, but he did doubt his fellow-laborers. After all they were sharing what they saw and what they said had probably irritated Thomas because he was not there to witness this great event. But Thomas’ response to what they were saying was not really being aimed at Jesus as much as was for the fact that he missed Jesus’ appearing as well as he missed what Jesus had given them in verses 21 and 22. In fact Thomas might have been one of those that Jesus was referencing to in Mark 16:14 when He appeared to them while they were eating and the text said that He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who saw Him after He was risen. So it wasn’t because Thomas didn’t believe what Jesus said, it was that he did not believe his colleagues.

Come now with me as we discover how much of Thomas’ ways are in us.

First of all...

1. THOMAS’ ABSENCE COSTED HIM A SPIRITUAL BLESSING(V.24)

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.”

It is not noted why Thomas was not there, but one thing we should note that his absence cause him to miss out on what Jesus was ready for them to do. In fact had you ever missed a service, and everyone that was there would tell about the good time they had, and you heard that so many times that you resented the fact that you were not there, and even more you would not want to hear another word about it? Well that is what happened with Thomas, his request was not to show his lack of faith in Jesus, because he all knew too well that Jesus was the Son of God, but his lack of faith was caused by his colleagues telling him of the blessing he missed, thus causing him to act as an unbeliever.